Kargath Bladefist leads an army of sadists simply by being the most hate-filled orc to ever attach a scythe to the stump of his severed wrist. Initiates of Kargath’s clan, the Shattered Hand, emulate their chieftain’s vicious body modification, but it’s only the first of many opportunities for new scars, both on their own bodies and in the sculpting clay of their foes’ flesh.

Kargath Bladefist (aka Korgath Bladefist) is the Warchief of the Fel Horde and Chieftain of the Shattered Hand Clan. He earned the sobriquet "Bladefist" after he cut off his own hand when he reached the station of grunt, replacing it with a deadly scythe. Hereafter, he quickly rose to the station of Chieftain of the Shattered Hand.

Contents

Biography

Kargath was one of the original members of the Shadow Council, and the only non-warlock to reach the Inner Circle.

When the first wave of clans went through to Azeroth, Bladefist begrudgingly stayed behind in Draenor, under the uneasy rule of Ner'zhul the Shaman, who only remained in power through his numbers – and the always-looming threat of the Ogre-Mage Dentarg. When the Bleeding Hollow Clan returned to Draenor many years later, Bladefist immediately volunteered to send his clan through to Azeroth, hoping to gloriously slaughter the humans to avenge his fallen or captured brothers and sisters.

Beyond the Dark Portal

As he appears in Warcraft II manual.

Once the Alliance had invaded Draenor, they established a foothold and constructed Honor Hold. From there, they raided Hellfire Citadel, thinking that Ner'zhul resided there. However, Kargath and Dentarg had been left there to distract the Alliance while Ner'zhul attempted to open the rifts to other worlds at the Black Temple. Alleria's elven rangers killed the sentries of the citadel and opened the gates, allowing the Alliance to storm in and butcher most of Kargath's clan. Dentarg was destroyed by Khadgar in that fateful battle. Nonetheless, Kargath understood that he had been left there to die, and managed to pull a few of his forces back and escape. Hoping to intercept the Alliance and continue his service to the Horde, he travelled to Nagrand and attempted to convince Greatmother Geyah to lend him warriors. She refused his request, as the village was one of the sick. Angered, Kargath stormed off. Realising that he had too few soldiers to make a difference, he instead decided to abandon the struggle and reclaim Hellfire Citadel one day in the future, when he was stronger and more prepared.

After the War

The opportunity to strike the Alliance arose with the coming of Magtheridon. The devilish pit lord used his blood to empower the Shattered Hand, turning Kargath and his followers into fel orcs. With demons to fight with them and Magtheridon's blood in their veins, the orcs of the Shattered Hand retook Hellfire Citadel from the Alliance. So began the reign of Magtheridon, who took up residence in the Black Citadel. Magtheridon culled many orcs from Kargath's legions and corrupted them, taking them with him to his new home. Six of the fel orcs he made his commanders; chief among them his bodyguard Bonethirst.

The Frozen Throne

Kargath was soon to serve a new master, however. The coming of Illidan Stormrage dictated a new era in Outland. Magtheridon was cast down, and his personal fel orcs legions dispersed. From atop the Black Citadel, Illidan declared that he would reign supreme. As lord of Outland, Illidan commanded the allegiance of Kargath Bladefist and the Shattered Hand of Hellfire Citadel.

Internment Years

When Ner'zhul opened the portals to numerous world in Draenor the world began to tear apart, Grom Hellscream realizing that Ner’zhul’s mad plans would doom their entire race, rallied as many orcs as he could and escaped back to the relative safety of Azeroth.W3man 10 In World of Warcraft there are orcs of the Shattered Hand Clan serving Thrall's Horde, while Kargath is in Outland. The warriors of the Shattered Hand in Azeroth are a part of the orcs that crossed with the Warsong clan and Bleeding Hollow clan before the Dark Portal exploded. However in the videogame Warcraft Adventures Kargath appeared in Azeroth leading the Shattered Hand clan. He was one of the clan leaders, along with Doomhammer, and Kilrogg Deadeye that met at a convocation or council on an Altar of Storms. Thrall apparently convinces them to form the Horde again.[1]

However this may not have happened as the game was cancelled and haven't been referenced in any source. It does not appear in the Lord of the Clans novel. Alot more recently, it has been confirmed that he was not infact trapped on the Azeroth side of the portal, and is still in Hellfire Citadel, under the commanding the Fel Horde, and being commanded by the Illidari.

The Burning Crusade

To this day, Kargath resides in Hellfire Citadel, now as Warchief of the Fel Horde, overseeing his former master Magtheridon in a twist of bitter irony. Now Kargath's prisoner, Magtheridon supplies Illidan's forces with corrupted blood. Thus, Kargath is the source of Illidan's fel orc legions. Now that the Horde and Alliance have stakes in the war, Kargath finds himself under siege.

It appears that at some point he replaced his other hand with a sword-like weapon, as did many of his fellow fel orcs. The actual in-game fist weaponThe Bladefist, is this newer armament, and not the original bladefist.

Warlords of Draenor

Kargath Bladefist will be making an appearance as one of the Warlords of Draenor in World of Warcraft in its fifth expansion of the same name, and chieftain of the Shattered Hand clan. Along with the other chieftains he will appear in a time before Draenor's destruction. He will rule over the land known as the Spires of Arak.

Description

From the Warcraft II Manual: A razor-sharp scythe setting in place of his severed left hand, Kargath is always willing to engage in frenzied combat. His ruthless tactics and single-mindedness have earned him the Chieftainship of the feared Shattered Hand clan. Like Hellscream, Kargath waits only for the time his clan is unleashed upon the unsuspecting humans to engage in massive bloodshed.

Trivia

From Warcraft Adventures.

In Warcraft Adventures.

The outpost of Kargath in the Badlands was named in his honor. In addition, the shore south of Orgrimmar has been dubbed Bladefist Bay, and the headquarters of the Warsong Logging Camp in Ashenvale is known as Kargathia Keep.

In the Warcraft II manual he was referred to as both Kargath and Korgath. In Beyond the Dark Portal game and later sources he is referred to as Kargath.

Several World of Warcraft servers are named after him in both Korgath and Kargath flavors.

Despite his corruption into a fel orc, Kargath is one of the most respected members of both the original Horde and among orc society. Though most orcs view his fall as unfortunate, they remember the proud warrior he once was. This is evident in Nazgrel's words at the end of [70D] The Will of the Warchief; "In his prime, Kargath Bladefist was a fine warrior, a hero and example to his people. His death is a blow to us all, but especially to Warchief Thrall. Whatever happened to him in his final days, we should not forget the orc Kargath once was, nor the lessons to be learned from his downfall."